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Housing Inmates Who Make Death Threats... with their Intended Victims

Tim King Salem-News.com

"I don't want to be in there with that guy" - Murder Victim Chris Lange

Overhead view of the Twin Rivers Correctional Institute, the Oregon prison where Chris Lange spent most of his sentence, prior to being murdered last May. Placed in a prison with a fellow inmate who had sworn to kill him, Lange did not last 24-hours.

(SALEM) - Note from Editor: due to miscommunication in the communication of this story to our newsroom, errors were made that are being corrected as of 2 May, 2012.

Why did Oregon officials fail to report the beating death of a prison inmate at the Snake River Correctional Facility (SRCI) in Eastern Oregon last year? Clayton Howard, an inmate who nearly died in an identical situation, says he knows why.

“

Chris Lange was murdered and his death consequently blocked from the public, because he was transferred from a prison (SRCI- Oregon) where he had served many years, and placed in a complex where his known rival was transferred to, one who he knew due to 'both' making death threat to one another years ago. Samuel DeFrank was transferred from TRCI to SRCI by STM officials. Chris Lange is not the federal informant. (Robert King) the informant was the cause of the conflict between Lange and DeFrank. He manipulated people with money (he's a millionaire) and both DeFrank and Lange protected him. He is known by DOC officials to be an "unreliable, questionable, manipulative informant". He's extensively documented and is trying to use this case to get out of prison, through parole officials.

I am testifying for (not against) DeFrank, as well as for Chris Lange. (In wrongful death lawsuit), as TRCI officials knowingly (and possibly deliberately) transferred DeFrank to SRCI where Lange was. Specific TRCI staff told DeFrank they'd send him to SRCI to where Lange was and made threats against DeFrank, as they knew Lange was a professional boxer, (well documented) and had beat DeFrank in the fight/assault at OSP. Lange suspected that DeFrank had another inmate assault Lange which was false. I personally knew this, as did others, and told Lange. DeFrank proved his innocence to prison officials, but ODOC separated them, sending Lange to SRCI and DeFrank to an out-of-state institution, then to TRCI, until the transfer to SRCI where death was to become of one or both of them.

There is now no way these two inmates should have been housed together anyplace as soon as inmates saw DeFrank they WARNED prison officials of the conflict. They didn't do what was necessary to protect either. "Legally", prison officials knew or should have known of the potential risk of harm, and failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the harm, and as a result, someone is injured.

In this case Lange was, permanently. ODOC officials are "undoubtedly responsible" for "creating the opportunity" for this murder, and it was known by them (of the conflict).

By giving DeFrank the death penalty, ODOC executes two inmates, when it was their negligence and recklessness that caused the incident.

This is one of the numerous assaults which resulted in a death, that ODOC officials create throughout its system. An investigation would reveal this is a "widespread systematic ongoing practice" and thousands of TAX payer dollars will be used to compensate inmates for DOC's actions. - Clayton Howard

”

Another Costly Mistake

Chris Soren Lange was 54 when he was fatally attacked last year. He was assaulted on 21 May 2010, and died from head injuries, after failing to recover from a comatose state, several days later. He had been in prison for 21-years, serving the latter half of his sentence in the Two Rivers Correctional Facility in Umatilla, Oregon. He was convicted of having been involved in a contract Murder and had only 90 days left to serve. Though no exact details were available, Lange is also said to have been a confidential federal informant.

Lange was convicted of killing John Robert Lucas, the owner of Philippi Ford in Stayton, in 1987. A rival Salem car dealer, David Virgil Waldner, also was tried in Linn County on aggravated murder and murder charges for supposedly hiring Lange to kill Lucas, but he was acquitted.

Lange was accused of shooting Lucas in the head and leaving his body on a logging road near Scio. It was found in November 1987.

James Samuel DeFrank, Jr.

Ten years earlier, when Lange was beginning his sentence, he had an altercation with the man who now stands accused in his murder: James 'Jimmy' Samuel DeFrank, Jr.

While not overlooking the severity of the violent crime, Clayton Howard says DeFrank was played by prison officials; a wiry, serious inmate serving a life sentence for Murder, this man now likely headed for Death Row, is described as a lifer who doesn't issue empty threats. Howard says there was ample knowledge of DeFrank's death threats against Lange, adding that Lange had repeatedly been assured by officials during his time in prison, that he would not be placed in a facility with the inmate who had sworn to kill him.

There is no question that placing these two in the same unit amounted to a serious security risk. The same week that The Oregonian finally caught wind of this incident, last August, guards at the same prison, SRCI, fired at inmates during an altercation in the recreation yard and that incident led to an overhaul of prison tower procedures. In fact it was that incident that led to, or at least coincided with, the news of Lange's death leaking out.

Howard, who is presently in the Two Rivers facility where Lange had spent his sentence, said it was shocking to see Lange transferred to a sure death sentence. The inmate was Murdered within 24-hours of his arrival at Snake River, and the suspect is DeFrank. He was attacked and killed in SRCI's Complex Two recreation yard, according to a press release issued by Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris.

Oregon Fails to Disclose Murder

Snake River Correctional Institution, where Lange was murdered in the rec yard.

The staff at The Oregonian heard about the inmate murder three months after it happened. Both SRCI and the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) failed to notify the public about the man's violent death. In Richard Cockle's 23 August 2011 report, Inmate was beaten to death at Snake River prison near Ontario in May, Jeanine M. Hohn, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Corrections in Salem, discussed the undisclosed killing on state grounds.

In the May beating death case, Hohn said the department apparently didn't issue a statewide news release about Lange, but may have notified Ontario-area media. She didn't know why that was.

Inmates receive the local Ontario, Oregon newspaper via subscription, and Clayton Howard says there was no local mention of the death, contrary to what state official Hohn states "may" have happened. News releases are either issued, or they are not, and there is no reference to the death in any DOC press release records. The information from Hohn; a responsive DOC representative who seems to do her best to answer questions from the media, seems very unclear and non-specific in this case; in spite of the fact that it involves both the death of a man, and now I am told, a new wrongful death lawsuit, that will be another costly nugget for Oregon's taxpayers.

No criminal charges were filed against DeFrank until afterThe Oregonian reported the otherwise undisclosed Murder, more than three months later.

The crime happened in May, The Oregonian learned of it in August, and in September criminal charges against DeFrank were filed, very interesting.

Lange’s beating and subsequent death occurred in May but only came to light in August after another incident at Snake River in which an inmate was shot and wounded by a corrections officer.

I asked Jeanine Hohn with the Oregon Department of Corrections Public Affairs department about the agency’s policy on releasing information about inmate deaths.

This was her response: “The Department does not have a policy that speaks specifically to releasing information about inmate deaths, but it is our practice to be transparent on inmate issues and incidents that would be of interest to the media and the public. In this case our office missed the release. There was quite a bit of time between the actual assault and inmate Lange’s death, and our office was involved in several projects during the May/June timeframe, and we truly just missed it. I take full responsibility for this oversight. As soon as the media/we realized the error, we have attempted to communicate as much information about the incident as possible without compromising the integrity of the investigation.”

The one man who can most closely identify with Lange's fatal situation, Clayton Howard, says the reason that officials at SRCI and the DOC failed to report the death, is, "... because they set it up by sending Lange to where DeFrank was, where they knew Lange would be killed, and they didn't want to draw attention to it, simple as that".

He recalls Lange saying, "I don't want to be in there with that guy" and worrying about having to confront his now longtime enemy.

Clayton Howard says he was shown photos of Mr. Lange after the beating death, and he described him as "unrecognizable" and adds that Lange, "looked like his head was a watermelon that somebody just smashed". According to witnesses, Jimmy DeFrank attacked a man who offered no resistance. Lange had been losing weight and appeared somewhat gaunt at the time of the attack according to Clayton, who said, "Apparently it was just one punch, and Chris Lange was down. After that Jimmy just kept going and there was nothing Lange could do to defend himself. There just wasn't much left of him after that."

Clayton Howard

Clayton Howard is ideally suited to talk about the case for three specific reasons:

The first is that he knew both Chris Lange and Jimmy DeFrank, and was on good terms with both.

Another reason is that Howard, as we have written about in past reports, was the victim of a near-fatal knife attack at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem by an inmate that officials knew had threatened his life.

The third reason is that Clayton Howard is known in prison terminology as a "jailhouse lawyer". Over the course of time, he has filed and won approximately 45 lawsuits against the state of Oregon for inmate grievances. In the past ten years, Howard has won nine. He knows a great deal about Oregon law, and he's had the time to polish and develop the required skills.

To clarify, in addition to the lawsuits Howard and filed and won, he has also filed hundreds of Tort claims on behalf of inmates. He also has a distinct court victory from the early 90's that allows the cases he submits to almost always lead to payments for the inmate-plaintiffs.

Due to his successful record of litigating against the state on behalf of other inmates, Howard has earned a complex reputation in prison. Officials know that if they place him in 'the hole', he is in a closer proximity to inmates receiving mistreatment, and this typically leads to new suits. Among prison officials, he would likely earn the "least popular" award.

Howard's Stabbing

Clayton Howard survived a near-fatal knife attack.

An inmate named William 'Dollar Bill' Thomas; a gang member from Southern California serving multiple life sentences for Murder, had a beef with Howard over attention the two African-American inmates were receiving from a white female corrections officer. Thomas, who had stabbed or 'shanked' four different inmates in the past, took a vow to kill Clayton Howard, he even told a corrections officer about his plan to stab Howard to death.

The corrections officer, William Coleman, says he was shocked to have 'Dollar Bill' confess a plan to commit Murder, and asked him not to carry out the act he threatened. Coleman was even more shocked when Thomas suggested that he had "permission" to take Howard's life.

Coleman then went to his superiors to report the death threat against Howard. He says the senior officials casually dismissed the information, repeatedly. Again, this story has been the focus of more than one past report, links to all of the related stories are below.

Clayton Howard was stabbed by Thomas when he was eating his dinner in the prison chow hall. The incident was recorded on videotape and Coleman says it took far longer than it should have for officers to intervene and subdue Thomas.

Every person in the corrections field that I have discussed this case with, says it is incredible and very suspicious that Oregon's DOC would allow a convict with a violent history like Thomas, to exist among the main population. Almost any convict with a repeated pattern of stabbing other inmates (all of his victims were also black) would be kept in some type of solitary confinement.

But not in Oregon. There seems to be a pattern in this state, of corrections officials sending inmates into harm's way intentionally, by pairing them with inmates who sport deadly vendettas.

Howard survived the stabbing only because the ice pick Thomas used in the attack, hit a rib; it's why his internal organs didn't suffer irreparable harm. One week from today, Howard's lawsuit against the state of Oregon over the preventable stabbing, goes back to court.

While he is far from helpless, Clayton Howard says he has witnessed things inside of the Oregon corrections system that would turn a person's hair gray. But humiliation, and physical and mental abuse, still pale in comparison to the capital crime of Murder. He hopes that Jimmy DeFrank takes his Murder case to court to draw attention to the practice of placing inmates with sworn death threats against others, together with their would-be victims.

All comments and messages are approved by people and self promotional links or unacceptable comments are denied.

John Lucas May 10, 2019 7:52 am (Pacific time)

My grandpa is John Lucas, he was murdered by Chris Lange days before I was born.I was named after grandpa and growing up I always wondered what happened between David Waldber ( he hired Chris Lange to kill grandpa) and him that led to him hiring Chris Lange to kill him. I read the transcripts from the trials and there must be more to the story then what was told or uncovered Grandpa John knew he wasn't coming back to his office that day when he left. For weeks prior to being shot he always had one of his sons with him while driving to business dealings or personal errands and chis lange who acted like he was going to buy a mobile home from Lucas homes would call and make appointments (then cancel} to meet at the site where the home would go to figure out where to lay the septic tank.. that day Grandpa didn't have one of his boys with him when he met Lange and was cowardly shot in the back of the head and left for dead. There's so many questions.. why did waldner get off when the whole town knew he hired Lange.. the only reason why he finally talked was because his car wash was shot up and his used car lot was too.. he was scared for his life, just like Grandpa. Yet he walked free and has for many years. If anyone else knows more about what took place between my grandpa and David waldner, please reach out to me at jaggerxlucas@gmail.com thanks
Sorry for my ramblings.. I'm just trying to find answers.

Randy Kling December 30, 2015 9:35 pm (Pacific time)

The trial scheduled for June 12th has been canceled...I was told there are 15,000 pages about this case...I just hope everything is uncovered..

Anonymous February 23, 2015 12:28 am (Pacific time)

the trial will now be this summer...

Anonymous October 20, 2014 6:20 pm (Pacific time)

I wonder if you would like me to fax you the entire letter DeFrank wrote?....DeFrank is now claiming that he killed Chris because Chris was going to kill him........that`s about as true as his claim to have been a NYC Hell`s Angel.....

Randy Kling April 27, 2014 7:55 pm (Pacific time)

the trial has been cancelled until Jan...

Randy Kling February 23, 2014 1:45 pm (Pacific time)

Once Defrank had a site in which he said he was a NYC Hell`s Angel......Haha.....maybe he should get stars tattooed on his shoulders and he can claim he`s a member of the Russian mafia....Lol...I don`t think the Russian mafia will like that though just like the Hell`s Angel don`t like fake members...haha.I will testify at his trial in August....I have much to say about the wrong doings of the prison if I will be allowed to speak.....it will be interesting if DeFrank can walk the yard of any prison since he`s an apparent ratt....Chris always called rats with 2 t`s(ratts).He said one shouldn`t disrespect the rodents....lol....

Randy Kling November 30, 2013 1:44 pm (Pacific time)

I might add that I found out that DeFrank wasn`t in the Hells Angels from the Oakland Hells Angels like DeFrank had said in an internet post before the killing(the post by DeFrank is removed but I know someone who copied and pasted it if that is the right description.I know next to nothing about computers)..I was told by Oaklend that no one knew of him on the west coast or NYC and that they would know. But he might have been a member 20 years ago when he went to prison.In Defrank`s post he had claimed to be a NYC Hells Angel.Well Chuck Zito was a member back during that time and Chuck said he was never a member of NYC...God bless the Hells Angels and Chuck for giving me this info out of the kindness of their hearts.....DeFrank needs to quit lying about this.And people should quit believing his stories...plus from what I understand biker groups don`t like it when someone claims to be a member but isn`t....

Randy Kling November 29, 2013 10:24 pm (Pacific time)

Sorry,I forgot to put my name with the excerpts mentioned...It was also quite difficult to type out things due to the comment box moving all over....The trial will be in August of 2014.....If I was DeFrank I would turn to the Lord and quit trying to send anyone to "talk "to me.For one I will protect myself by "any means necessary"as Malcom X put it.For another if someone does try to come they should know what DeFrank said and judge accordingly...btw Chris had whipped far more dangerous people than DeFrank in the streets when he wasn`t in a weakened condition.Attacking someone when they can`t even do one pushup is like attacking an old feeble man,a woman,or a child.In my book there`s no excuse for that...

Anonymous November 29, 2013 10:16 pm (Pacific time)

You`re welcome.....thanks for making sure it was me.....here are some excerpts taken from a letter James DeFrank SID #4604254 wrote to Captain Forbes chief intelligence officer at Ore.State Peniteniary years previous to murdering my friend Chris Lange....it`s 4 pages long so I will only print a few things.....this is some of what James wrote in his writing(much misspelling)..Page 1:"I`ve trye`d writing you kytes in DSU when I was there on two different occisions over the Mike Long,Chris Lange,Vernon Smith,DeFrank assault but they kept getting short stopped by the DSU Lt and signed with his name/stamp.Mr.Forbes please here me out with an open mind "please".on July 18th Mike Long assaulted Chris Lange by hitting him in the mouth with a sox(night yard)I wasn`t on the yard that night.....I heard that Mike Long said my name that night to Chris Lange as the person that put him up to hitting Chris with the rock.....at 625 am the next morning Chris + Vernon Smith were waiting for me on the landing(D block 5 Bar) we all lived on 5 bar.Chris started saying that I paid this Mike Long guy money to hit him and he punched me in the jaw"......Page 2:..."Right before getting out of IMU I tell my counselor in IMU that me and Vernon Smith have a problem and the nest thing I know Im awaken at 7 am telling me I`m going to (EOCI) from IMU!....Mr.Forbes Tommy phippen Told Me to write to you He said you straight up and would listen He said you helped him out of EOCI and back to OSP...Captain please cut me this one brake and have me shipped back to OSP DSU."....Page 3:"I`m 41 years old I would go to Death Row just to get out of here.....I have new ballistics proving that my thumb slipped from the hammer of the gun that killed my victim.....especially captain Mills He really wants to kick my ass!Not to mention (R&D)..Rodrigus....Captain Forbes I need this brake bad.I need a miracle from you sir i`ll give you my word I will never mess up again!..my respects James S.DeFrank "...Page 4: "Additional information: Vernon Smith will be paroled one month before I get out of IMU His paraole date is April 1995 I should get out of IMU may 13th 1999....Chris Lange, I dont think will be wanting to walk OSP yard when he gets out of IMU.While in DSU befor his IMU placement he was calling Jesse Earls and a few other guys that were on the teir with him "All a bunch of Rats" so Chris Lange has got some serious problems of his own to deal with......Captain please get me outta here these people -guards- are seriously fucking with me.....please have me shipped back DeFrank james 4604254......please write back captain!...". .....Anyways that is some of what DeFrank wrote.I know very little about prison etiquette.But I don`t think Chris would write a letter like this mentioning names...I`m not sure if inmates consider what DeFrank wrote as what is called ratting..But if so I would think that if DeFrank tries to have someone come "talk"to me that they should be aware of previous things DeFrank has said in the letter he wrote...I don`t think some people would attack someone if the person who sent the attacker was a rat....I`ll let people who are more well versed in such matters decide..It`s obvious that DeFrank has a very major anger issue.It would be interesting what his childhood was like to make him have such a snapping like anger problem...As a Christian I pray that DeFrank will be saved...But I think the murder was a paid hit.I think people in the prison and perhaps higher up`s were involved...the last time I saw Chris at Snake River where he was murdered he couldn`t even do one pushup due to having Hep C..It surprised me that DeFrank would attack someone in such a weakened condition.But than again that makes me think even more that it was a hit....The prison guards didn`t shoot(the attack was in the exercise area where the guards look down with their useless(in this case guns).They put Chris in the same unit as DeFrank as well....a couple of years prior to this attack Chris almost died of hep C and would have but I got him legal help...This time the prison seemed in a big hurry to let Chris die.After he was taken off life support in Boise(where I saw him with 2 guards watching him)he was taken back to prison and died 2-3 days later without water,food,etc...In other words the prison wanted him to die..There was ample proof that Chris and DeFrank had fought and were enemies.Chris was soon to be released so the prison made sure DeFrank was transferred to Snake River,and than rather than putting Chris in another unit(3 units at Snake)they put Chris in the unit where DeFrank is.The guards conveniently didn`t shoot.The camera conveniently is pointing in another direction.....I could go and on....I just hope that what happened is uncovered.It sound s like DeFrank is being quite about what happened...I wonder why?...I think the letter DerFrank wrote will be suppressed at the trial but now at least some is known...Life is short.There is very little justice in this world.So I won`t hold my breath about the truth being uncovered...Chris is in heaven and DeFrank has people believing him.Ha...

Randy... November 19, 2013 1:52 pm (Pacific time)

I don't know why it wasn't from the same internet IP...this is from my cell phone .the others as I recall all came from my laptop....I am out of state ( out of Oregon now)..I'm an illiterate when it comes to computers..

Well I'm sure you can understand, when the IP doesn't line up we are not sure and sometimes the attribution is made to level blame or source the comment to an innocent party, thanks.

Randy Kling November 18, 2013 11:07 pm (Pacific time)

I didn`t mean to have my name as anonymous for comments on Nov.18,2013....July 30,2013...I didn`t see the name box above to the left somehow...sorry...now I`ll put my name down...

Editor: This is not from the same Internet IP

Anonymous November 18, 2013 12:19 am (Pacific time)

I wonder if anyone would want to see a copy of the letter DeFrank wrote to the captain of intelligence long before the murder in which Defrank mentions Lange and others(this was after they had a fight).Also DeFrank used to have a internet site in which he said he was a member of the NYC Hells Angels.Chuck Zito who used to belong to that club said James DeFrank was never a member...

Anonymous July 30, 2013 3:23 pm (Pacific time)

it well be interesting what comes out in the trial...I hope someone uncovers everything that truly happened....sure is strange that the prison guard didn`t shoot at least a warning shot when Chris was attacked.....sure is strange that Chris was put into the same unit as DeFrank...how convenient that Chris gets murdered a few months before his release....I wonder if DeFrank still claims to be a NYC Hell`s Angel?From what I hear no one knows of him in the Hell`s Angels....I wonder if when an inmate sends a letter to the captain of intelligence and mentions a name or two,is that called snitching?...

Nicholas Pennacchi February 28, 2013 2:12 pm (Pacific time)

Chris Lange was a suspect for the murder of my father on May 21st 1983 in Washington State. I was on his visitors list and talked with him at Twin Rivers. The Killing of Chris Lange made it that more difficult for me to find closure. If anyone has information that may lead to the resolution in my father's case please contact S.P.D. Mike Ciesynski at 206 684 5571. Thanks!

Anonymous July 7, 2012 7:46 am (Pacific time)

I remember the Waldner, Lange case all to well. Waldner hired Lange without a doubt to hit Mr. Lucas, If David Waldner didn't do a speedy (oj) trial he too would have been in the Pin. So many questions, not enough answers in both trials. Sad Sad Story, May the Lucas family have some Closure please.

Randy February 12, 2012 8:22 pm (Pacific time)

I knew Chris Lange very well.There's no way he waa a federal informant.He wouldn't even inform on guards...Plus there's no way he said:"I dont want to be in there with that guy"...There are 3units at Snake River.Chris was in one. They moved him from that one to the one Defrank was in. They could have put him in the other unit.The guards shot in 2008 but didn't shoot when Chris was attacked...Chris was recovering from a life threatening illness. Him and Defrank had fought before at another prison where Chris whipped Defrank. This was before Chris almost died from an illness....Maybe Defrank is the CI?

Tim King: Thanks for your comment, and the informant part is what was passed to me, not verified, hopefully people reading this understand that, take care.

friend of the real victim January 23, 2012 11:27 pm (Pacific time)

Chris Lange is a murderer. We should be thankful our state didn't release him into the public to commit more violent crimes.

Editor: Thankful that he was beaten to death after he nearly finished doing his time? At any rate the crime he was convicted of has nothing to do with the report, I am sorry you lost someone, no excuses for that What do you know about his having been a federal informant? Thanks for your comment.

Anonymous January 22, 2012 11:08 am (Pacific time)

It's pretty sad that a convicted killer gets more sympathy then a soldier who gets killed in combat.

Editor: I do not follow you, what soldier?

Anonymous January 19, 2012 9:14 am (Pacific time)

Moral: Be a law-abiding citizen. Study hard as a child and eat your peas.